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Opinion Contributor

Iraq failed U.S. troops

The author offers a different version of a speech about the end of the Iraq war. | Reuters

“But these mistakes did not stop there. Neither the Bush administration nor the civilian and military leaders sent enough troops to control the situation after the fall of Saddam. The administration position was in keeping with the narrative that the war would be easy and that we would be greeted as liberators. But the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also let you down by not challenging that assumption and by not supporting their fellow chief, Gen. Eric Shinseki, who told Congress that several hundred thousand troops would be needed to secure Iraq. Nor did they support the commanders in Afghanistan, who said that because of the invasion of Iraq, there would not be enough to finish the job in Afghanistan. As a result, many of you have had — and will continue — to spill your blood much longer than necessary in that country.

“Your military leaders also let you down by not insisting that their civilian bosses in the administration and Congress activate the Selective Service System when it became clear that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would drag on for years. As their predecessors told President [Ronald] Reagan in urging him not to end draft registration, the All-Volunteer Force is a peacetime force. Therefore, too many of you were deployed too often to Iraq and Afghanistan without sufficient time at home to recharge. This has resulted in horrible damage to you and your families that will be felt for decades to come. It also meant that many of you had your time in service involuntarily extended through the backdoor draft known as stop-loss.

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“The best way to honor the sacrifices that you and your colleagues have made is to say we will not do this again. If America goes to war again, it will be because the threat is imminent, we will have an open and honest debate before sending you into harm’s way, we will send in enough forces to do the job, and the American people will be part of the conflict by paying for it with their increased taxes and by exposing their children and spouses to a draft.

“You did your job and we honor you for it. Please forgive us for not doing ours. Hopefully, next time we will do ours.”

Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, served as assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration. Alexander Rothman is a special assistant at the center.

Regardless of right or wrong, the population suffers if the nation loses a war. Bush missed the core requirements of aggressive war - it has to be short, devastating, and you make the loser pay the cost of the war.

Obama missed the importance of not losing. You can apologize all you want, feel bad, whatever, after you win. The long term impacts of losing are always negative for the politician who loses the war and his citizens who have to suffer the consequences.

The media let itself be lead by Repub propagandist radio hosts and Fox news and created a war hysteria that very few members of congress had the guts to question. Senator Barrack Obama did have the guts to question it and that is why he is POTUS today while Ron Paul and 7 dwarfs are in Iowa.

""There is no victory and no victors in the 20-year war. Except for a few war profiteers, everyone has lost. The U.S.-Iraqi war that started in 1990 has destroyed Iraq’s infrastructure and damaged the Iraqi social fabric. Iraq is far from having a functional democratic government. It is the fourth most corrupt country in the world according to Transparency International, and Baghdad is the worst city in the world according to Mercer’s 2011 Quality of Living rankings. One million Iraqis have been killed in the last eight years alone, and another 5 million displaced. Millions of others have been injured and traumatized for life. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have been killed and wounded, and hundreds of thousands are back home with mental injuries. Iraq and the U.S. lost hundreds of billions of dollars because of the conflict.

“While ending the U.S. military occupation is a step in the right direction, the U.S. will continue its intervention in Iraq through 16,000 State Department personnel — half of whom are armed mercenaries. Downsizing the U.S. State Department’s mission in Iraq is very important to insure a balanced bilateral relationships is built on mutual respect. There is no reason for the United States to have a larger mission in Iraq than the Iraqi diplomatic mission in the U.S., which is estimated to consist of a few dozen employees.

“Today’s withdrawal is great news for the millions of Iraqis and Americans who have opposed this war all along. But ending the occupation does not end the U.S. moral and legal obligations to compensate Iraq and Iraqis for the crimes and mistakes committed in the last two decades. In addition, holding U.S. officials who caused this mess legally accountable will help achieve U.S.-Iraqi reconciliation, and it will send a strong message to future U.S. politicians that they will be held accountable.”

“The best way to honor the sacrifices that you and your colleagues have made is to say we will not do this again. If America goes to war again, it will be because the threat is imminent, we will have an open and honest debate before sending you into harm’s way, we will send in enough forces to do the job, and the American people will be part of the conflict by paying for it with their increased taxes and by exposing their children and spouses to a draft.

“You did your job and we honor you for it. Please forgive us for not doing ours. Hopefully, next time we will do ours.”

First time I have seen a courageous completely true assessment of the stupidity of all institutions as the neocons led the nation into a false war. Finally the politico conservative blog has published something other than Scarboroughs right wing baloney.

We would be better off if the Justice Department brought charges of mass murder and waging wars of aggression against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and all their buddies, including all the Generals in the Pentagon. War crimes trials, ending in convictions, followed by executions for the lot of them.

I don’t think from the liability stand point that any nation can admit that it started an unjust war. What we did was bad but not quite as bad as what Japan did to China. Japan made no apologies for that nor did we force them to.

Bring back the draft. If Bush knew Jenna and Barbara were going to be conscripted and sent off to be blown up by some camel rider with a cell phone, this war would never have happened.

The military was failed by the American people and liberals like Hillary Clinton who wouldn't stand up to Bush when it counted. If Chelsea and all the other kids of parents who were all in favor of the invasion as long as their kids didn't go into combat were drafted and sent to the fight, no one would have ever thought to invade Iraq or spend 10 years in Afghanistan. The American people are afraid to fight. That's the lesson of Iraq and Afghanistan. You don't have to defeat them. Just make them bleed a little and they will give up. OBL may be dead, but history will show that he was the winner, posthumously.

The vacuous liberal/progressives continue to distort history. It appears that the actions by the Clinton and the democrats instigated the war in IRAQ.

The Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 is a United States Congressional statement of policy calling for regime change in Iraq. It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, and states that it is the policy of the United States to support democratic movements within Iraq. The Act was cited in October 2002 to argue for the authorization of military force against the Iraqi government.

Representative Benjamin A. Gilman (Republican, NY-20) introduced the H.R. 4655 on September 29, 1998. The House of Representatives passed the bill 360 - 38 on October 5, and the Senate passed it with unanimous consent two days later. President Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act into law on October 31, 1998.

I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002-Truth!Senator Kerry's comments were made to the Senate as part of the same debate over the resolution to use force against Saddam Hussein.

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction." Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002-Truth!Senator Rockefeller's statements were a part of the debate over using force against Saddam Hussein.

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do" Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002-Truth!Senator Waxman's contribution to the Senate debate over going to war.

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons.

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country." Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002-Truth!This and the quote below was part of prepared remarks for a speech in San Francisco to The Commonwealth Club.

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002-Truth!

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002-Truth!